MCC fell to a nine-run defeat to Northern in the third match of the tour of Pakistan.

Despite Ravi Bopara's three wickets, a score of 64 by Ali Imran and two wickets each for Munir Riaz and Mubasir Khan proved to be vital in securing victory for the hosts in the T20 contest at Aitchison College, Lahore.

Looking to bounce back from Sunday's defeat, MCC elected to bowl first, but a quick start from Zeeshan Malik (12) and Imran threatened to put the hosts on the front-foot.

However, while Kent spinner Imran Qayyum managed to dismiss Malik and Roelof van der Merwe also proved his capabilities with spin to remove Rohail Nazir (2), Imran continued to impress with the bat.

The batsman eventually lost his wicket for an excellent score of 64 with Bopara claiming his first wicket of the match.

The former England all-rounder would go on to earn a further two wickets, dismissing Sarmad Bhatti (25) and Faizan Riaz (19) to finish with figures of four overs, 14 runs conceded and three wickets.

While Bopara impressed with the ball, an unbeaten flurry of runs from Khan and Zaid Alam towards the latter stage of the innings gave Northern a total of 152/5 after 20 overs.

In response, Michael Burgess and Arron Lilley had settled MCC into their innings until Riaz managed to break the opening partnership by taking the wicket of Burgess (14) before bowling captain Kumar Sangakkara to leave the touring team in a spot of bother.

Once Lilley (20)  had departed, it was Khan’s turn to cause MCC a few problems with the ball.

He took the wickets of Bopara (19) and Ross Whiteley, after the latter had put on a 40-run partnership with Samit Patel for the fifth wicket, to put Northern in control.

Despite Patel’s best efforts to see MCC over the line, the touring side fell short by nine runs with Northern’s bowling attack proving to be too tough to break down.

MCC will play their last match on the tour against Multan Sultans at Aitchison College, Lahore, in another T20 match on Wednesday morning.

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